Shrimps and Faux Fur – they’re here to stay.

As most of us know by now, faux fur is absolutely not a passing trend and has been embraced by so many luxury fashion brands (we covered this in more detail last year – here) in lieu of a long fight against traditional fur in fashion spearheaded by PETA. It being a brand new year and all that, we felt in a celebratory mood and wanted to celebrate this ongoing positive ethical fashion statement and in particular a leader in cruelty-free fashion: Shrimps.

The British brand was founded by London-based designer, Hannah Weiland in 2013 when she was in her early twenties and has since brought faux-fur as its signature style to many more conscious dressers. Shrimps pieces now include bags, dresses, coats, tops and shirts and has been worn by the likes of megastars Alexa Chung and Poppy Delevingne at London Fashion Week.

Weiland’s training in History of Art and Surface Textile Design (at London College of Fashion) allows her to engage playfully with modern art, pattern and texture. Weiland actually couldn’t wear real fur due to an allergy, she wrote in an Op Ed for Business of Fashion, but that’s not the main reason why she chose to focus on it when developing her dream fashion brand.

“I wouldn’t wear real fur [regardless] because I greatly value animals and am conscious of my personal impact on their wellbeing,” she writes. In her efforts to make comfortable, stylish and original pieces that bear only a visual resemblance to real fur, Weiland has explored all sorts of new techniques, from mock Mongolian shearling to printed, jacquard, velvet and even crochet fur effects.

Most recently the brand has been part of an exciting collaboration with Converse (Shrimps x Converse), melding their more whimsical aesthetic to the classic Chuck 70 and One Star with hits of their signature faux fur. Alongside the shoes there’s a range of premium apparel, featuring doodle prints, all hand-drawn by Hannah Weiland herself.